Vehicle-tire.



No. 686,!26. Patented Nov. 5, l90l. R. G. PILKINGTON.

VEHICLE TIRE.

(Application filed Apr. 22, 1901.)

(No Model I ll I 1 I. V

' r Qoberj}? v d i? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT G. PILKINGTON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOANDERSON GRATZ, OF KIRKVVOOD, MISSOURI.

VEHICLE-TIRE.

SPECIFIGA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,126, datedNovember 5, 1901. Application filed April 22,1901. Serial No. 56,983.(No models To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT G. PILKINGTON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Tires, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification. My improved tire is intended more espeoially for use onself-propelled vehicles, the object being to produce a tire which willhave a maximum traction or friction upon the surface being traveled overand at the same time being durable in that it is not liable to be splitor separated either in the direction of the circumference of the wheelor in a direction transversely thereof. With this object in View myinvent-ion consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described,and pointed out in the claims.

Figure I is a detail perspective view showing part of my improved tire.Fig. II is a detail top View. Fig. III is a detail perspective View of atire made on a smaller scale than that illustrated in Figs. I and II.Fig.

IV is a section taken on line IV IV, Fig. III.

Fig. V is a detail perspective view of the rubber band before beingvulcanized.

1 represents the metal rim or folly of the wheel, which is connected tothe hub by spokes or in any other well-known way and which hasoutwardly-extending side flanges 2. Within the rim fits a rubber ring orband 3, that is provided with side flanges 4, extending some distancebeyond the flanges 2 of the rim 1. The shape of the band 3 before beingvulcanized is illustrated in Fig. V. Seated between the flanges 4 and onthe flat bottom of the band are bodies 5, of fibrous material. Thesebodies are preferably short sections of rope which have been dipped in arubber solution before being placed in position; They are placed so thatthe fiber comes end on to the ground, and they are held in the band bymeans of hooks 6, each hook having oppositely-bent ends, so that one endof each hook engages the outer body 5 of one series of bodies across thetire, while the other end of this hook engages the outer body of thenext series at the opposite side of the tire, as shown in Fig. ll. Thenthe band has been filled with the bodies 5, the spaces between thebodies are filled with pieces of natural rubber dropped into place, andthe whole is then placed in a mold under pressure and vulcanized. Thevulcanization causes the upper edge of the flanges 4 to enter betweenthe outer bodies 5 and to pass between the outer bodies and becomeunited with the pieces of rubber that have been placed in the spacesbetween the bodies, the result being that the flanges 4, the fillingpieces dropped into the spaces, and the bodies 5 are vulcanized togetherin a homogeneous mass, the result being that the fibrous bodies aresecurely held to the rim of the wheel, and thus the fibers of thesebodies are presented end on to the ground.

The traction efiect of the tire is superior to any other tire known tome, While at the same time the thorough embedding of the fibrous bodiesin the rubber and the existence of the rubber between and through thebodies produces a tire in which there are no seams running in thedirection of the circumference of the wheel or in a transverse directionthereto, so that neither the traction pull on the Wheel or a side thrustof the wheel on the ground will produce a split in the tire in eitherdirection.

In Figs. III and 1V, 1 have shown a tire made on a smaller scale than inthe other figures, wherein a single row of fibrous bodies is employed,the upper portions of the flanges 4 of the band forming a sufficientbody of rubber to fill the spaces between the bodies duringvulcanization, thereby dispensing with the use of pieces of rubberdropped into the spaces betweenthe fibrous bodies, as in the otherfigures.

The tire, speaking of the fibrous bodies and the band as a whole, isheld to the rim or felly 2 in any well-known way-as, for instance, bywires 7, passed through the bottom of the band and the ends of which aresecured together.

As the inner ends of the bodies bear against the flatsurface of therubber band, they are permitted to yield slightly when they strike anobstruction, which also adds to the durability of the tire.

I claim as my invention 1. A vehicle-tire, consisting of a rubber bandprovided with side fianges,fibrous bodies fitting between the flanges ofthe band end on to the ground, and rubber filling between the bodies,all being united together in. a homogeneous mass by vulcanization,substantially as set forth.

2. A vehicle-tire consisting of a rubber band having flanges, andfibrous bodies located between the flanges end on to the ground, andunited thereto bythe vulcanization of the rubber, substantially as setforth.

3. A vehicle-tire consisting of a rubber band and fibrous bodiesvulcanized to the band end on to the ground, substantially as set forth.

4. A vehicle tire consisting of a rubber band and sections of rope heldto the band end on to the ground, substantially as set forth.

5. A vehicle-tire consisting of a rubber band and sections of ropevulcanized to the against the band between the flanges thereof,

and hooks connecting the sections together, said sections and band beingvulcanized together, substantially as set forth.

8. A vehicle-tire consisting of a flanged rubber band, and sections ofrope dipped in a.rubber solution and placed between the flanges of theband and united to the band by vulcanization.

ROBERT G. PILK'INGTON. In presence of E. S. KNIGHT, M. P. SMITH.

